With Players Out of Sight, Knicks Preview New Look

Image

From left, Knicks Coach Derek Fisher with Phil Jackson, team president, and G.M. Steve Mills.CreditAndrew White for The New York Times

By Scott Cacciola

Sept. 26, 2014

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The gymnasium at the Knicks’ training center houses two full-length courts. On Friday morning, the courts were separated by a large blue curtain. On one side was a news conference, featuring Phil Jackson, Derek Fisher and Steve Mills. From the other side came the sounds of bouncing basketballs and squeaking sneakers. The players who were making the racket were hidden from view.

It was not, by all indications, a nifty bit of stagecraft designed to showcase how hard the players were already working, four days before the start of training camp. But Jackson, the team president, did not go out of his way to dismiss its significance, either.

“We are prepping,” he said. “I think our guys have been conscientious about their workouts, and everyone’s anxious about getting on the court next week.”

Coming off a disappointing 37-win season that was punctuated by several departures (including the head coach and two starters), the Knicks are about to draw the curtain on a whole bunch of brand new stuff: new system, new coach, new goals, new perspective.

The only certainty is that Carmelo Anthony will be in the starting lineup, said Fisher, the team’s first-year coach. Everything else is up for grabs.

Jackson preached patience, as he has done consistently since joining the organization in March. It will take time for the team to coalesce, he said, especially as it absorbs the principles of the triangle offense. But Jackson also made clear that he expects the Knicks to make the playoffs.

“Fans want to know: How long do we have to wait?” Jackson said. “We hope it’s expedient.”

There were several moments when Jackson sounded like he could have been keynoting a TED conference, which comes with the slogan, “Ideas worth spreading.” Exhibit A: “We still have to come together in a bonding way that creates trust, teamwork, identity.” He accessorized a gray tracksuit by wearing colorful sneakers.

Jackson, Fisher and Mills were all fond of the word “process,” using it no fewer than a half-dozen times. The process of negotiating Anthony’s new contract. The process of managing minutes. The process of learning to win. Even the process of having the team’s owner remove himself from the process.

Jackson said the rebuilding dated to exit interviews in April, when he urged the team’s returning players to focus on their conditioning over the summer. Anthony, for one, went out and lost a significant amount of weight, conferring with the training staff on a regular basis.

“Carmelo took that very seriously,” Jackson said.

Training camp will begin Tuesday, when the Knicks relocate to West Point for five days. Jackson said he was drawn to the idea of his players getting a sense of the discipline and character required of the cadets. “We think it’s a great opportunity,” he said.

Jackson sat between Fisher and Mills, who had their own messages they hoped to convey. Fisher, just months removed from his playing career, dismissed the commonly held notion that he is little more than Jackson’s coaching proxy.

“If there is one thing you learn from this press conference,” Fisher said, “I am not Phil Jackson.”

And Mills, who as general manager has often been publicly viewed as the third wheel, made sure his voice was heard. He amplified several remarks made by Jackson and reiterated that James L. Dolan, the team’s owner, had been taking a hands-off approach to basketball operations — at least where the Knicks were concerned.

“I can honestly say to you, I haven’t had one conversation with Jim about the team this summer,” Mills said.

One outlet for Dolan’s excess energy has been the team’s Development League affiliate, which will be based in White Plains this season. Mills said Dolan had been an active participant, having made a substantial investment in launching the team in Westchester County. Dolan has also been moonlighting with his blues band.

“He’s been true to his word in allowing Phil and I to work together,” Mills said, “and in allowing Phil to set the tone and the culture for the organization.”

So if everything appears copacetic, it might be worth noting that the Knicks are undefeated. They will not play a regular-season game until Oct. 29, when they host the Chicago Bulls. That gives the players more than four weeks to bond, and Fisher more than four weeks to find his voice.

Fisher said he was confident that Anthony would buy into his coaching style. He praised Amar’e Stoudemire for being “ready to go.” He predicted that Andrea Bargnani would be “great.” The run-up to training camp is almost always a time of unfettered optimism, and Fisher did not veer far from the script. Jackson exercised slightly more caution.

“Basketball is a pretty simple game,” he said. “When players play completely without inhibition and they play with a tremendous amount of energy, they’re going to be successful. When there’s confusion and a lack of teamwork, supporting each other, those things become apparent. Those are things we’ll watch.”

In other words, all part of the process.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D4 of the New York edition with the headline: With Players Out of Sight, Knicks Preview New Look. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe